The Metropolitan Dance
by Marlow the Great
Summary: Becky goes to the school dance without a date and finds herself and Toby having an unforgettable night when they escape the dance to go have their own fun. Tobecky. Don't worry, the next chapter will be a lot more fun and unexpected :o)
1. Chapter 1

The strobe lights lit up the darkened gym. The party committee truly had done a marvelous job decorating for the dance. It looked like a New York City skyline at night, which was appropriate for the metropolitan theme. Nevertheless, it did look fantastic. Becky had come early to help Violet with the finishing touches, though she didn't serve much use as she was hardly considered artistic. Becky found watching the process of the decorations just as fascinating, if not more, than painting anyway. She didn't have a date, of course. In all honesty, she had never expected to. She was let down slightly, for Violet had even gotten a date, and Violet never paid attention to boys at all it seemed.

"Violet! You never told me who your date was!" Exclaimed Becky, looking to her friend as she suddenly remembered.

Becky looked at her feet, clearly uncomfortable.

"Oh, yes, um…Becky," she said slowly in her quiet, timid voice. "Well, you see, Scoops invited me, and so, yes. Scoops is my date." Becky felt a pang of disappointment.

"Oh, that's… that's really great for you guys! You guys are actually really cute together."

"I'm sorry, Becky. I mean, I know that you like Scoops, but…"

"Like Scoops? Ha! No. No, I don't. I just, uh…No, seriously, you guys are a great couple. People are starting to come though, I should go…get refreshments…or something."

She quickly began to walk to the refreshments table. Why was she so invisible to Scoops? She was always too busy. And now she had to pay for it. No good deed goes unpunished.

She hardly had time to pity herself. Music started playing. It was really great music, but Becky couldn't bring herself to walk over to the dance floor. In all honesty, she wanted to be nowhere near that dreaded place. Everyone from her school was arriving. Scoops was holding a daisy for Violet. She hadn't been lying when she said they were cute together. But provided her little comfort.


	2. Chapter 2 Who's the Best?

The music was blasting, but Becky preferred to wallow in self-pity as she watched her friends enjoy themselves. She knew she was being overdramatic about the whole ordeal, but she would be dreadfully embarrassed to go out and- God forbid- dance _by herself._ Her dancing was horrid enough, that would just give all of her peers another thing to make fun of. She was sad, but deep down, she realized that she wasn't truly all that sad. In all honesty, she did like Scoops, but he was never her Prince Charming. None of that mattered now, though, as she sat in the corner of the room. She regretted ever attending this dreadful dance.

On the other side of the gym, Victoria Best arrived, wearing a hideously pink dress, with her hair in her usual braids. She was dragging someone behind her, an unfortunate soul who was forced to come along, no doubt.

Toby.

Becky felt a sudden pang of anger toward Victoria, but she could not work out why.

Toby was wearing a tuxedo with a bow tie. There was no doubt; he looked good. Maybe Victoria truly was the "best" at picking out dates to the dance. Toby, on the other hand, did not look pleased.

Victoria was quickly distracted by a group of girls admiring each other's dresses. She went up to go tell them how much better her own was. Toby made a narrow escape, keeping his head down and wandering to Becky's side of the gym. He saw her and awkwardly adjusted his glasses. He slowly sat down next to her, pretending not to notice.

"Good evening, Becky."

Becky sighed. Toby was filled with too much pride to even talk to her like a normal person. Yet she felt as if she could most likely get some kind of conversation out of him. And she desperately wanted to try.


	3. Chapter 3

"So…Victoria?" Asked Becky Toby as nonchalantly as she could. For some reason she was very annoyed that he would go with her. Although it was true that they both were, quite frankly, villains, it seemed to Becky that Toby could have gone with someone much better than that. Toby had personality. He was funny, and he was smart. He was not bad looking either, if you looked past his thick and comically large glasses and suspenders.

Toby made a grimace.

"Don't act as if this was my choice. Originally, I had declined her offer to accompany me to the dance. However, she told my mother, and of course she forced me to come along. I could be spending this time discovering the formula for making the most intelligent robot the world has ever seen!"

"Maybe it's for the better," said Becky, "I mean, you never take a break from your robots. The night might surprise you."

"I don't like surprises."

There was a brief pause that seemed to last an eternity.

Becky felt self-conscious. She was just wearing a simple dress, while some girls had obviously spent hours getting ready. She felt especially awkward sitting next to Toby, who looked so nice tonight in his tuxedo, while she just looked…plain. Even Victoria was getting more attention than she was, even if that was simply because she was demanding it. Becky looked at her simple, light blue ballet flats.

"Well," she said, breaking the tension, "the gym looks nice."

"Indeed, but…" Toby faded off.

"But?"

"Well, I'm not sure how to… It just feels… unfamiliar. Like I don't belong."

"Oh."

"I understand that that sounds confusing, but-"

"No, actually. I kind of completely understand what you mean."

Toby casually moved closer to her.

"It's a shame. We are stuck here until… when does this end?"

"Ten."

"What are we going to do for three hours?"

Becky was suddenly excited. We. What are WE going to do. Why would this even excite her?

"Well…that's up to us."


	4. Chapter 4

"I suppose that you're right," said Toby at last. "Well, have you read the new book by Jon Aspen?"

"Of course," gushed Becky, "and loved it! The part when Erik has to give up his best friend, oh, it was so wonderful!"

"Well, yes, but that was in the last book. What about the new one? It came out this week."

"What? No! I didn't know it even came out! I have to read it soon! Do you have it?"

"No, in fact, I just turned it into the library."

"We have to go get it!"

"We? Now?"

"Yes! The library is only a block away."

"But…that's crazy! We must stay here, my mother expects me to stay here, she said-"

"For an boy genius, you are seldom adventurous."

"I don't need your opinion. Nevertheless, I shall go."

Becky smiled slyly.

"Follow me."


	5. Chapter 5

They snuck by as subtly as they could until they reached the school's exit.

"Excuse me, young lady, what do you think you're doing?"

A teacher spotted Becky, but had not seen Toby standing behind her.

"Um…"

Becky looked like a deer in headlights at the woman. Toby glanced at the exit behind her.

"Run!"

Toby took off out the door and dashed into the parking lot, Becky following behind. They rushed out onto the sidewalk and ran until they were at least a half a block away.

"You know," breathed Becky, gasping for breath, "we probably could have just made up a believable excuse."

"Fair point," responded Toby, "but that wouldn't have been nearly as exciting."

Becky, surprised, laughed.

"Come on," she said between laughter, and began walking to the library.


	6. Chapter 6

"How could I have not predicted this?" Becky slapped her forehead as she came upon the "CLOSED" sign. "I mean, I know the times by heart! I suppose all I wanted to do was get out of that retched dance…"

"Well," said Toby, quieter than he usually spoke, "there are other things we can do, you know."

"You're right," said Becky, still too disappointed about the book to think about anything else, "Let's go to the malt shop. I need a shake."

As they arrived at the malt shop next to the library, Becky slid in to one of the bar stools and ordered a chocolate shake.

"I'll have a double chocolate shake with two- no, better make that three shots of fudge. Extra whipped cream."

"Bad day, huh?" The waitress began mixing up the shake.

"I haven't even read the new book everyone's apparently talking about."

"Really? It's fantastic! I love the part when-"

Toby looked up at the waitress with one raised eyebrow.

"Oh, right, sorry, kid. Here, it's on the house."

She slid the milkshake to Becky, who caught it and immediately began drinking through the striped straw. Toby tapped his fingers on the table in awkward silence. Becky suddenly came back to reality.

"Oh, Toby, did you want anything?"

"No, not really. I try to limit my sugar consumption."

"You mean your mother tries to limit your sugar consumption. Be your own person, Toby!"

"Maybe later…"


	7. Chapter 7

*Author's note: Sorry it took so long to update. I'm busy. No. That was a lie. I lied. I am just lazy. Sorry for the weird format! I'm using a new program and it's weird.

"Let's go," said Becky. She thanked the waitress and they walked out of the shop. It was getting a little later, but the sunset was hidden behind clouds. Only the light pink lining could be seen through them. Nevertheless, Becky (for a reason that she did not know) found it beautiful. It seemed like something that Violet would see beauty in, but Becky didn't understand why she was so mesmorized. She brought herself to reality and looked at Toby, who she had just noticed had been staring at her. Toby, embarassed, blushed, and then began coughing immediatly to cover it up.

"Well, I guess we could go back to the dance," Becky said, laughing. They both knew that it was more of a joke than an actual proposition. They were both introverts, yet while Becky tried to enjoy social oppurtunities as well, Toby tried to mask his insecurities with over-confidence. Underneath, he was uncomfortable around others. But his efforts to be friendly were clear to Becky, so she appreciated them as much as she could.

"Well…are you hungry?" Asked Toby warily.

"Yeah, a little bit."

"Okay. Well, my mother-" he paused here to roll his eyes- any event that had to do with his mother was eye-roll worthy- "gave me some money to spend on Victoria, so…we can use it to get something to eat. It's not very much, though. I mean, if you're hungry, though-"

"Yeah, sounds great, let's go," said Becky, setting of toward the department store, Toby following behind.


End file.
